A N12 trophy originally presented by Twickenham YC in 1942 (Thames Challenge Cup) has appeared on e-bay. At TYC we are very keen to recover this special piece of the club's heritage.
I thought I would flag this up in case someone else in the class was considering bidding for this old N12 trophy. I am hoping not to have to pay a fortune outbidding other interested parties!
Thanks
Alistair
Well mentioned!! Two people have flagged this up to me already and it would be really silly to have association members bidding against one another for this. Hope you get it at a reasonable price, happy biddding look forward to hearing of your success. Howard
I managed to secure the old trophy on behalf of Twickenham YC, and at a reasonable price. Thank you for not bidding against us!
I am hoping the seller may be able to supply some recent history.
Alistair
Glad the trophy is 'coming home'!
Jennie
Hi Alistair,
Well done to find that trophy, a bit naughty of someone selling it!!!
Can you tell us what that trophy was for? I wonder because many years ago the TYC Cadet Trophy went missing. A number of us tried to trace it (with no luck at the time).
Dave
If the trophy was given for an individual event, the winner could do what he or she wants with it. If it was a perpetual trophy (like the Burton Cup) then it would remain the property of TYC.
Great to hear you got your trophy back.
Trophy arrived safely today. Seller has advised me that he bought it from a house clearance stall at an antiques fair.
As it has a specific date, is relatively small and is the same shape as the 1936 Thames Challenge Trophy (which is awarded to the winner of our TYC Open Meeting) our current theory is that this was a 'keepsake' trophy for the winner of the Thames Challenge to keep.
As to why no winners name was engraved on it, well perhaps the race was not sailed because of bad weather/river conditons, or the winner took it away and didn't ask to have it engraved. Who knows? We will do some digging through old club records.
Rather than award it we plan to make it part of a permanent display at the club.
Did TYC get a batch of replicas made before the Second World War? I am not sure how much dinghy sailing was permitted during WW2. Ian Proctor made one or two comments on this in either Racing Dinghy Handling or Racing Dinghy Maintenance.
According to our centenary history pamphlet ('Sailing on a Maintained Level') the Thames Challenge Trophy has been sailed for every year since it was first presented by Twickenham YC in 1936.
The 'deed of gift' for the trophy allowed the race to be sailed at a venue chosen by the previous years winner and it therefore travelled up and down the Thames. However ever since 1959 the race has taken place at Twickenham.
Digging through a locker at the clubhouse yesterday evening I found a very similar old trophy. It was slightly bigger than the one we have just recovered but it has not been engraved. Perhaps this was also to have been awarded as a 'keepsake' trophy?
My research continues.